Ganguly hails team India’s dominating show

Kolkata, Dec 20 (IANS) Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday hailed the team for inflicting another 4-0 humiliation on England on home soil.

The Virat Kohli-led side won by an innings and 75 runs to seal yet another dominating show in Chennai riding on Karun Nair and Lokesh Rahul’s batting display and Ravindra Jadeja’s 10-wicket match-haul.

“It was a fantastic display by the Indian team,” Ganguly told reporters here.

“I hope they carry forward the momentum. In the sub-continent if you have to beat them, you need quality spinners and clearly Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali were not good enough,” said Ganguly.

Having made a sedate start to the day, England made a hash of their batting after tea losing the last six wickets for a mere 15 runs.

Speaking on the collapse of the visitors, Ganguly said: “I think that’s where Virat Kohli as a captain comes in. I am sure he would have said to the boys that the match is not over yet.

“This is one of the good things we have seen in the series. These were pitches which did not have turn and we lost four tosses but still managed to win four back-to-back Test matches which is remarkable.”

Asked about the happy conundrum the team has at the moment with the likes of stand-in wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel and rookie Karun Nair performing excellently, Ganguly said the problem will be solved when they start playing abroad.

“The batting has a lot of bench-strength available. There were guys who stood up and performed. Karun Nair was remarkable in this Test match. So it’s a good problem to have. This problem will be solved in the next 12 months when India go around the world and play in conditions where there is pace and bounce,” he said.

“There are five more Test matches to come in India and they will win all five. Then they start on the road and then we will find out who stands up against good quality pace attack.”

Ravindra Jadeja, according to Ganguly, is one of the best bowlers in the sub-continent.

“He (Jadeja) is lethal on slow turning pitches in the sub-continent. I think he is one of the best.

Asked to compare between Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja to Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, Ganguly, who was captain when the latter duo were in full tilt, said, “I don’t think it’s fair to compare them. Those were different eras of cricket.”

India won their ninth match of the year to stretch an unbeaten run to 18.

The hosts wrote and rewrote a plethora of records, including notching up their biggest-ever series victory over England.